$32 Million? Oh, Really? No, O’Reilly

On this week’s first COMMENTARY podcast, we stand agog at the personal $32 million payout by former #1 cable news star Bill O’Reilly and what it means about the sexual harassment scandals and the way they are changing the rules. Then we move on to simpler matters, like American foreign policy and the ambush in Niger. Give a listen.

I listen to the end. I think this is an advantage that a podcast has over say a TV or radio show – you have some flexibility in the time you can take to address an issue. When you tackle a complex issue like foreign policy, I think you should take the time and fully explore the issue and allow the arguments to get full expression.

I think its when we abbreviate arguments, not only do we loose nuance but we eventually loose the argument because raw emotionalism is the shortest possible argument. Which is where the democrats live.

I listened to the end. I would also request that you do more material on Burma, given that it’s not front and center and that most people (myself included) know little to nothing about the major players and other dynamics.

This is my new favorite podcast. I don’t mind the length because it allows the three interlocutors to go deep. The depth is what I come for, considering that podcasters far and wide are talking about the same subjects (e.g., Harvey Weinstein). I appreciate that my time isn’t being wasted on superficial commentary.

@johnpodhoretz my husband and I loved loved loved your description of how to “run” American foreign policy and imperialism. However, we can’t figure out your emphasis on *second* sons – they skipped that detail in Lawrence of Arabia. What were the firstborn sons off doing? Making money? Like the signers of the Constitution from the South – the firstborn were home doing something actually important so those states sent Son 2?

“What will happen in Burma is there will be an ethnic cleanse with a taste of genocide.”

Sadly, I’m afraid you are correct, Sir. After spending some time in SE Asia in the last few years, I decided to brush up on the region with D.G.E. Hall’s one volume history of the region. Basically it’s been one bloodbath after another since time immemorial. British and French colonization failed to modernize the place before being interrupted by WWII.

It’s certainly not a matter for Americans, but perhaps for neighbors India and China, both of which have had their own bloodbaths within living memory.